Arpeggiare Variations was commissioned by the violinist Fenella Humphreys as part of her Bach2TheFuture project.

Fenella was frustrated by a lack of solo works to perform alongside the Bach unaccompanied sonatas and partitas. A Kickstarter and remarkable fundraising drive ensued, and Adrian’s was one of six new works she was able to commission for the project.. the others by Sally Beamish, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Gordon Crosse, Piers Hellawell and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

The new works were recorded by Fenella across two critically-acclaimed discs for Champs Hill Records. The second of these releases , which opens with Arpeggiare Variations, received BBC Music Magazine’s 2018 Instrumental Award.

“It’s not often that you can say that a commission, or set of commissions, fills a genuine hole in the repertoire. However, that’s precisely what Fenella Humphreys has bestowed upon the musical world with ‘Bach 2 the Future” - Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice

Programme note

• 1: Tema
• 2: Assertivo
• 3: Tarantella
• 4: Lento
• 5: Ritorno

The unwritten rule for all violinists - myself included - is that Bach’s music has to feature as a rite of passage of one’s training. The solo and double concerti and the unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas spring from such a deep and fundamental understanding of the instrument and its expressive range and technique that a violinist’s life without them would be difficult to conceive.

So a delight for the player.. but Bach’s winning ace with the unaccompanied works in particular is in what they offer to the listener: an uncannily complete and rich emotional universe delivered with what is essentially a single musical voice. The multi-faceted ways he achieves this are various and breathtaking, but for me the major appeal is in the way that harmony, rhythmic energy, and melody including implied contrapuntal voices are all wrapped up into one integrated ‘stream’. In that regard, the G minor fugue is a particular favourite of mine.

While I could never hope to hold a candle to Bach’s invention, Arpeggiare Variations is simply my instinctive take on this approach to writing for unaccompanied violin. In other words, to create a short work - around 10 minutes - in which a harmonic, melodic and rhythmic world are conveyed in a simultaneous stream. Arpeggiation - the use of broken chords - is a simple but powerful mechanism for that goal, hence the title.. and in fact, the main theme is itself built on the arpeggiation of simple A major and D major triads.

The piece is in the form of a theme and variations; an initial opening statement piece, followed by II) Assertivo, III) Tarantella, IV) Lento, V) Ritorno, which eventually brings the return of the theme and a short coda to conclude.

- Adrian Sutton

extract perf. Fenella Humphreys